What will the strawberries make of cold snap?

Monday

Mar 25, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 25, 2013 at 5:19 PM

Colder nights mean hiking up the heat or putting an extra log on the fire for some. For the Linebergers it means late nights and less sleep.

Owners of farms in Gaston and Lincoln counties, Harold and Patsy Lineberger watch the weather religiously. They’ve got to stay on top of things to provide a plentiful crop of plump strawberries each year.

The next three days will have Harold Lineberger and his grandson busy through the night.

“They’ll be up and down all night long, all week long,” Patsy Lineberger said.

Strawberries at Maple Springs Farm in Dallas and Berry Hill Farm in Iron Station are grown two ways – on raised beds and by what the Linebergers call the old-fashioned technique, in mulched beds.

Those on raised beds keep warmer. Strawberries directly in the ground are more susceptible to freezing temperatures and require monitoring, Patsy Lineberger said.